Electrical connectors having double-latch members are known and they are generally used in automobiles. In one of these connectors as disclosed in Japanese U. M. Publication No. 61-153975, a secondary latch member is hingedly connected to the housing and has latching projections that engage the electrical contacts in the passageways when the latch member is in a closed and latched position. The hinged-type secondary latch member presents a number of problems. One problem is that the hinge mounting the secondary latch member to the housing is deficient. Another problem is that the latch for latching the hinged secondary latch member in position on the housing is unreliable. A further problem is that the number of contacts that can be secured in the housing is very limited.
Another of these connectors is disclosed in Japanese U. M. Publication No. 57-192076 wherein the housing has a long area along which a separate secondary latch member is disposed for engagement with a section of the electrical contacts in the housing after they have been placed therein and the secondary latch member is itself latchably secured to the housing. The drawbacks of this connector are that the secondary latch member is a separate member susceptible to being lost; if the wires terminated to the contacts become crooked and tangled, positioning of the separate secondary latch member in the housing can be difficult; the secondary latch member can also be improperly positioned in the housing; and the number of contacts that can be secured in the housing is limited thereby resulting in less density.